Located in western Routt County about 7 miles southeast of Craig and 6 miles southwest of Hayden, the 810-acre Home Place property is owned by the Barnes family, which manages the property for cattle grazing. Part of a land patent from the State of Colorado in 1964, the property was acquired by the Barnes family in 1974. The family has been ranching cattle for four generations.
The Home Place property consists of sagebrush shrublands and shrubsteppe, mixed mountain shrublands, grass pastures and swales. Habitat is provided for bald eagle, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (including 2 active leks), ferruginous hawk, Greater sage-grouse, Greater sandhill crane, northern leopard frog, black bear, elk, moose, mule deer and pronghorn. The property is part of a winter concentration area for elk and provides important winter habitat during the most severe winters.
The property is visible from Routt County Road 65 and from adjacent and nearby State Land Board lands and State Wildlife Areas. The state has invested heavily in protecting lands in this area for grouse and wildlife habitat and recreation along the Yampa River corridor. Conserving this property along with the Moon Place property links together many of these lands and creates a 27,000-acre block of contiguous, protected agricultural lands and wildlife habitat.
Project partners include Natural Resources Conservation Service and Routt County Purchase Development Rights.
All photos by D. Reeder, Rare Earth Science.
